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SuperSonics sold to OKC group

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by WazzuGrad00, Jul 18, 2006.

  1. nafselon

    nafselon Well-Known Member

    Well the 95-96 team DID make the NBA Finals.
     
  2. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    NO NBA team loses money. Period.
     
  3. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Oklahoma seems hell-bent on becoming a major-league state. But the City seemed to be able to handle both OU basketball and the Hornets. The Hornets averaged 18,700 at Ford (4,700 more than the team drew in New Orleans pre-hurricane). If nothing else, it showed OKC is a viable market unto itself, even with competition from the Mavericks in an NBA Finals season.

    The Hornets were a team on the rise (read: had nowhere to go but up) even before Katrina chased them out of NOLA. But will OKC fans have the same allegiance for the sad-sack Sonics?

    I think the OKC group might've been a little too trigger-happy. The OKC group might have been able to wait a year to see how the new Seattle arena deal went and then get a fire-sale price if it fell through. If nothing else, they would've been first in line for expansion, or maybe they go after some other team with a tenuous financial situation. But there will be NBA ball in Oklahoma after the Hornets go back.
     
  4. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Jack Sikma is shedding a tear.

    Slam-dunkless in Seattle? Seems very strange the city would just let basketball leave.
     
  5. fmrsped

    fmrsped Active Member

    Pardon my stupidity, but I thought the Hornets were headed back to NO this season? Is it set they'll be in OKC for 06-07?
     
  6. Sonics will eventually land in OKC, while the Hornets will eventually land in KC, drop the O.

    And sure, OKC was a viable NBA market in Year 1. Lets see what happens in Years 2, 3, 4, 5 ...
     
  7. Precious Roy

    Precious Roy Active Member

    I agree with these sentiments... Being from Oklahoma I can attest that things come and go in the state that swears it's OK. I think the Hornets swooped into the Ford Center and into the hearts of the citizens of OKC and all of Oklahoma. Not only because they were the first pro team to settle for a season, but for the Katrina affect as well, it was just a good story. I think if the Sonics come on down [/bobbarker] they are going to find after the third year that even though they are the only show in town they are not going to be given a million breaks.
     
  8. Lester Bangs

    Lester Bangs Active Member

    Also a Seattle native, and agree with you. I'd be sad to see the Sonics go, if only because they were the first professinal sports franchise in the area and they kind of remind me that professional sports weren't always so polished and corporate. My earliest memories are of my grandmother laying in bed, knitting and listening to Bob Blackburn call the games. She never missed one, but somehow I don't think she'd have much interest in the league now.

    This ownership group seems to have no idea how to capture the imagination of their base. They remind me of their only superstar, Ray Allen, who's certainly a great player, but is he a guy you're going to lay down money to watch? And then they draft guys like Swift, Petro and Sene, which might someday be great basketball decisions, but again, when you're trying to get an arena built, you gotta rally the troops ... make people care. Same deal with letting Nate McMillan go ... and then hiring Bob "Born to be an assistant" Weiss ... and then Bob Hill. Each decision they make is less interesting than the last.

    There's no way Seattle should whore themselves out to another sports franchise with its hand out ... and thanks to the level of apathy this ownership group has inspired, I think you are about to see a city tell a team to hit the road.
     
  9. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    The the OKC arena have all the modern luxury boxes/lofts/moneymaking necessities that owners so desperately require?

    Or are we going to start the arena search all over again in a few years?
     
  10. Lester Bangs

    Lester Bangs Active Member


    Yes and of course.

    These guys didn't get rich because they don't know how to work the system. As soon as theirs is near the median NBA arena deal they'll ask for more. Hell, KeyArena was redone in 1995 and the vision behind that project made sure it was a relic within 10 years.
     
  11. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    The Ford Center in OKC isn't a bad setup, but I have no idea how it compares to other NBA arenas. According to its site, it has a seating capacity of 19,599 for basketball and 49 private suites and seven party/rental suites. I vaguely remember when it being built something being said about it being able to convert to more suites, but I was in college for part of that, so I was probably drinking, and who knows if I remember right.

    And, yes Ricky Deep, the Hornets will be in OKC this next season and are set to return after that, but their owner even keeps hedging on that.
     
  12. Oz

    Oz Well-Known Member

    If/when the Sonics do move to OKC, I would hope they do the right thing and abandon the team name for something more appropriate. I would hate to see a repeat of the Utah Jazz.
     
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